Not at Carowinds. That carp sucks.

But basically, there's this roller coaster I went on at King's Dominion a week ago. I had a blast on it, and my friend and I went on it at least 6 times. Truly, went you get off it, your heart is beating like you just sprinted. It's a beautifully designed coaster. Almost a mile of track, first drop is 305 feet at 85 degrees, top speed is 93 mph. And it's gorgeous-looking, not to mention incredibly smooth.

Unfortunately, there is a part right after the first drop where you go into a low-banking turn. Almost everyone "blacks out" on it. You don't literally pass out. It's the feeling of when you get up really fast and all the blood rushes to your head. Sometimes it gets to the point where your vision is totally black. But it only last a second or two and doesn't leave any long-lasting damage, like head aches. By the end of the ride, you're fine.

It's been out four weeks and they've already put trim brakes on it. TRIM BRAKES. On a Giga-Coaster. Basically it completely kills the speed. You're speeding along and then suddenly BAM you're going 50. It's stupid and a mood-killer. And it's not even at the part where you black out.

Now they're talking about more trim brakes, so that the first drop will be slowed to mid or low 80's. They're willing to drop the Giga-Coaster status for literally no reason at all (Giga-coasters have to be over 300 feet and go over 90 mph). Blood rushing to your head won't cause a terrible health problem, unless you're stupid and don't pay attention to the warning at the beginning of the ride. In which case, you shouldn't be at KD.

Since I love roller coasters and I want every park to make the tallest, fastest, most stunning thing out there, it really disappoints me. This track was fantastically awesome, not to mention a tribute to Dale Earnheart. To take something so ground-breakingly awesome and completely slow it down would just be a mood killer. No doubt it would still be awesome, but it won't be as awesome as it can be.

Uh. I like roller coasters.

Sorry if this seems like a pointless rant. If you want to make it meaningful, you can think about how it's a tribute to the guy's memory and making it slower than its potential won't add meaning to his memory at all. It can only take away.

That sucks.

Really, that sucks. It's a goddamn roller coaster, what was the point of slowing it down? I know several people can say "for safety" and all of that, and that could be true, but it doesn't change the fact that dropping the speed dramatically is a total buzzkill. There are warnings at the beginning of the coaster for people who might have health problems, if they want to use that excuse. If you're pregnant or have high blood pressure then don't get on the ride! /minirant

Yeah, I like roller coasters, too.

I maintain that a slow rollercoaster is a rollercoaster not worth riding. That seriously sucks! Really fast rollercoasters are truly awesome to ride, and they should stay that way. Seriously brah.

Lillisaurus wrote:That sucks.

Really, that sucks. It's a goddamn roller coaster, what was the point of slowing it down? I know several people can say "for safety" and all of that, and that could be true, but it doesn't change the fact that dropping the speed dramatically is a total buzzkill. There are warnings at the beginning of the coaster for people who might have health problems, if they want to use that excuse. If you're pregnant or have high blood pressure then don't get on the ride! /minirant

Yeah, I like roller coasters, too. :)

I KNOW RIGHT.

Like, who are they doing it for? The people who have conditions and won't be able to take a little blood in their head? Then why are they riding it?! Let the people without conditions have their fun.

Biae wrote:I maintain that a slow rollercoaster is a rollercoaster not worth riding. That seriously sucks! Really fast rollercoasters are truly awesome to ride, and they should stay that way. Seriously brah.

I agree with this so hard. It's actually why I don't get on a lot of rollercoasters that are around my area. >__> None of them are fast and awesome. The closest ones that are actuall fast are in Idaho and California, dammit. >:I

But yes, the really, really sucks. They should honestly leave it as it is. "For health reasons" is a sturgeon excuse in this situation. So you semi-blackout for a second or two, so what? It's not like your head is being whipped around and your neck might just break. Which, funnily enough, is what a lot of corkscrew 'costers do (minus the your-neck-might-break). You'd think they'd be a little more worried about that than "OH NO, IT'S TOO FAST. WE DUN LIKE IT. LET'S MAKE IS SLOWER BECAUSE WE CAN."

Actually, I looked it up, and blacking out is something that is associated with binge drinking.

A blackout is a phenomenon caused by the intake of alcohol or other substance in which long term memory creation is impaired or there is a complete inability to recall the past

So unless you drank a whole hell of a lot before you got on the coaster, it doesn't cause you to black out. It's different from passing out, yes, but it's not blacking out.

What IS happening is this:

Definition:
Orthostatic hypotension is an abnormal decrease in blood pressure when a person stands up. This may lead to fainting.

The reason they slowed the coaster is, yes, for health reasons. Headrush like that can cause fainting, and that's bad for two reasons. 1) While the person is passed out, their body becomes limp, which could lead to spinal injuries over the course of the ride because their head and neck can be knocked around without control.
2) Fainting or extreme headrush like that (which leads to it) is from a lack of oxygen to the brain, which can lead to killing braincells.

It may suck to have to slow it down, but they do have good reason.

^ Hm, that makes sense...though I'm wondering why they have to slow down the entire coaster if there's only one part of it that does something that could be hazardous. At least that's what it sounds like from sireenn's post. <.<

And what I mean by "entire coaster" is putting in a lot of trim brakes in other areas of the coaster that don't seem to be having that problem.

Hm, that I wouldn't know. *shrugs* But I'm sure they slowed down that one part because if someone does get hurt from passing out, it's an insurance liability.

Technically they can't be held liable if there's a warning at the front saying, "Don't ride this if you have high blood pressure".

If you just look at it from the ground, it literally stuns you. If you have high blood pressure and think you can ride it without issue, even though they warn you, that's pretty dumb.

sireenn wrote:Technically they can't be held liable if there's a warning at the front saying, "Don't ride this if you have high blood pressure".

If you just look at it from the ground, it literally stuns you. If you have high blood pressure and think you can ride it without issue, even though they warn you, that's pretty dumb.

Doesn't stop people from suing Disney when someone dies on their ride, now does it?

Yeah, the park can be held responsible due to construction issues and whatnot. If a normal person blanks out during the drop, what would happen to someone who doesn't know they have health issues or is dehydrated... they can die.

Lady Phoenix wrote:

sireenn wrote:Technically they can't be held liable if there's a warning at the front saying, "Don't ride this if you have high blood pressure".

If you just look at it from the ground, it literally stuns you. If you have high blood pressure and think you can ride it without issue, even though they warn you, that's pretty dumb.

Doesn't stop people from suing Disney when someone dies on their ride, now does it?

Yeah, the park can be held responsible due to construction issues and whatnot. If a normal person blanks out during the drop, what would happen to someone who doesn't know they have health issues or is dehydrated... they can die.

It's not a blackout though, it's just the sudden shift in force affects the blood in your eyes and you lose use of your sight for a second. At least that's what it sounds like from what's been described here. It happens to jet pilots in complex air manoeuvres.

I said BLANK out. Not black out.

Lady Phoenix wrote:I said BLANK out. Not black out.

Ah. This is why I need to re-read things...

I put the definition of "blanking" out or "headrush" up in my post...

Military and stunt Pilots are also taught how to breathe in conditions like that, and wear special flight suits to help keep their blood properly pumping at high altitude. The average roller coaster-rider doesn't. That's a key difference.